ISRAEL and the Hezbollah militant group have agreed to renew their ceasefire after fighting postponed Iran-US talks in Switzerland, three officials have said.
Word of the ceasefire came from two regional officials and a US official. The truce was mediated by Qatar, the US and Iran, the regional officials said.
A Hezbollah official said mediators attempted to implement a new ceasefire and that an agreement would be announced soon, but he stopped short of confirming it was in place.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to comment publicly on the matter.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office did not immediately comment.
Military spokesman Brig Gen Effie Defrin said the military has not received different instructions from the government.
He said Israeli forces were operating in a “forward defence zone” and will continue doing so.
It remains to be seen whether that could help put the US-Iran talks back on track.
In Washington, President Donald Trump lashed out once again in the midst of the intensified fighting in Lebanon and the stalled nuclear talks.
“We didn’t meet out of desperation, Iran did,” Trump wrote in a social media post. “They are finished. We’ll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not ten cents!”
Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, had been prepared to make an overnight flight to meet with his Iranian counterparts at a mountainside resort in the tiny Swiss village of Obburgen and begin the technical talks.
Vance’s staff and a small group of journalists had gathered at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington in anticipation of the trip.
Dozens of White House officials, advance staffers and more media were already in Switzerland.
Then the trip was called off — abruptly and for the time being.
A White House statement said Vance, tapped by Trump to lead the negotiations, decided to postpone his travel. It made no mention of the escalating violence in Lebanon.
“The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable,” the statement said.
But, according to officials, the Iranians made clear to the White House that they had baulked at starting the talks with Vance because of the Israeli action in Lebanon.
The fighting had intensified with at least 18 killed by Israeli airstrikes, while four Israeli soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon, officials said.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel’s military would stay in a “security zone” of southern Lebanon as long as “Israel’s security needs require it”.
Israel and Hezbollah are not parties to the US-Iran agreement.
Ahead of the ceasefire announcement, Itamar Ben-Gvir – an extremist Israeli minister – posted on Twitter/X: "For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep. All of Lebanon must burn!
"With all due respect to the Americans, Israel must make it clear to the entire world that the blood of our sons and the security of our citizens are not forfeit. All of Lebanon must burn. Our supreme duty is to protect the citizens of Israel and the soldiers of the IDF, and this commitment takes precedence over every other consideration.
"I told the Prime Minister, even in our private meetings: For every tear of an Israeli mother, a thousand Lebanese mothers must weep."
He added: "Enough with the ping-pong. In the Middle East, you don’t win with measured responses and restraint — you need to go berserk. To obliterate. To crush the terror."
